Letter to the Editor: Obama reveals his disrespect for military

In the late ’60s, between my tours as a MACV adviser to South Vietnamese combat units, I was assigned as an ROTC instructor at Gettysburg College.

I was frequently required to be an Army notification officer — informing family members that their son, father or husband had been killed in Vietnam. This was difficult duty, but someone had to do it.

At other times I would be required to serve as the survivors’ assistance officer. The same officer never performed both duties.

The recent extreme disrespect shown by this president toward members of the U.S. military and veterans is despicable.

Closing the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and many other similar sites is in keeping with his historic dislike of our military.

Anyone who says the president likes the U.S. military is either a fool, a liar or a Democrat hack.

The final straw was his complicity in delaying death benefits to survivors of those killed in action.

Less than one citizen in every 100 serves in the military. If you want to look at the combat arms — infantry, armor or artillery — the ratio jumps to less than one in 5,000. I realize that the news media are even more under-represented than the general population, which might be the reason they seem to not care about this latest insult by the president to our servicemen and veterans.

A park ranger in Washington said that he was told the order was to make the shutdown as painful as possible. Obama was able to decide which parts of some laws he would ignore, yet he wants the gullible public to believe he, as commander-in-chief, couldn’t solve this “survivors’ benefit problem.”

I guess the millions of voters who would never serve will believe him.

One local citizen told me that he would join the U.S. military only if the entire Chinese navy was sailing up the Allegheny River.

He wants to be like the French: Run, hide, surrender, then collaborate. Lord help our republic, because the “fourth estate” won’t.

BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car among houses in an ethnic minority village in northern Iraq today, killing at least 15 people and extending a wave of bloodshed that has gripped the country.

The bombing happened in the Shabak village of al-Mouafaqiyah near the restive city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, according to police officials.